Andrew Yang

For other people named Andrew Yang, see Andrew Yang (disambiguation).

Andrew Yang
Yang in 2023
Co-Chair of the Forward Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 28, 2022
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born (1975-01-13) January 13, 1975 (age 49)
Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Political partyForward[a] (since 2021)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic (1995–2021)
Spouse
Evelyn Lu
​
(m. 2011)​
Children2
EducationBrown University (BA)
Columbia University (JD)
Occupation
  • Businessman
  • Politician
  • Attorney
  • Lobbyist
  • Political commentator
  • Author
Signature
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese楊安澤
Simplified Chinese杨安泽
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYáng Ānzé
Southern Min
Hokkien POJIûⁿ An-te̍k

Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, political commentator, and author. He founded the political party and action committee Forward Party in 2021, for which he serves as co-chair alongside former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.[3]

The son of Taiwanese immigrants, Yang was born and raised in New York state. He attended Brown University and Columbia Law School, and found success as a lawyer and entrepreneur before gaining mainstream attention as a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. His signature policy, a monthly universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000, was intended to offset job displacement by automation. Marketed as a "Freedom Dividend", Yang has been credited with popularizing the idea of UBI through his candidacy and activism.[4]

Media outlets described Yang as both a dark horse and a novelty candidate during the 2020 election cycle, going from a relative unknown to a major competitor in the race.[5][6][7] Yang qualified for and participated in seven of the first eight Democratic debates. His supporters, colloquially known as the "Yang Gang", included several high-profile public figures and celebrities.[8][9][10] Yang suspended his campaign on February 11, 2020, shortly after the New Hampshire primary.[11] Afterward, he joined CNN as a political commentator, announced the creation of the political nonprofit organization Humanity Forward, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York City in the 2021 Democratic primaries.[12][13][14][15]

On October 4, 2021, Andrew Yang announced his departure from the Democratic Party to become an independent politician,[16] faulting what he characterized as a system stuck in increasing polarization and saying that he is "more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it".[17] Later in October 2021, Yang founded the Forward Party, a centrist political party with a stated goal of providing an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties.

  1. ^ "Party Affiliation". Board of Elections in the City of New York. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  2. ^ Yang, Andrew (October 4, 2021). "Breaking up with the Democratic Party". Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  3. ^ Chen, Shawna (July 27, 2022). "Yang announces new Forward party with other centrist groups". Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  4. ^ Adams, Kirsten; Kreiss, Daniel (2021). Power in Ideas: A Case-Based Argument for Taking Ideas Seriously in Political Communication. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108950954. ISBN 9781108950954. S2CID 234849809. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  5. ^ Dovere, Edward-Isaac (January 17, 2020). "Andrew Yang's Campaign Is Not a Joke". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  6. ^ Kruse, Michael (August 22, 2019). "The Surprising Surge of Andrew Yang". Politico Magazine. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  7. ^ Yang, Wesley (October 25, 2019). "What Andrew Yang means". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ Beinart, Peter (September 20, 2019). "Why Andrew Yang Matters". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  9. ^ Fisher, Anthony (February 7, 2020). "From 'Trump train' to 'Yang Gang': Meet the conservatives and swing voters who have fallen hard for Andrew Yang". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  10. ^ Bari Weiss (January 30, 2020). "Did I Just Get Yanged?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 8, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  11. ^ Stevens, Matt (February 11, 2020). "Andrew Yang Drops Out: 'It Is Clear Tonight From the Numbers That We Are Not Going to Win'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  12. ^ Stevens, Matt (March 5, 2020). "Andrew Yang's Next Move: A New Nonprofit Organization". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (December 11, 2020). "Is Andrew Yang Running for Mayor? All Signs Point to Yes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Andrew Yang Enters Race for Mayor, Proposes Universal Basic Income". www.ny1.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  15. ^ Gabbatt, Adam (June 23, 2021). "Andrew Yang drops out of New York mayoral race as Eric Adams leads". Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  16. ^ "Breaking Up with the Democratic Party". Andrew Yang. Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  17. ^ Gonzalez, Oriana. "Andrew Yang says he officially left the Democratic Party". Axios. Archived from the original on October 4, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.


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